Inscribed slab

The National Monuments Service's description

Listed as Monaincha 1 by Okasha & Forsyth (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 198) who state that `In 1851 this stone was drawn by a Mr Waters, a police constable from Roscrea, who sent the drawing to Petrie. When it was found, the stone was taken to the house of the landowner and was there in 1869 when it was drawn by Stokes ... At some time after this, the middle and left portions went missing. In 1886 William Birch presented the right portion to the British Museum ... This right piece of stone, now in two pieces, was seen and recognised by K[atherine] F[orsyth] in the British Museum store in 1996.' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 198). Thia slab measures 0.59 x 1.245 x 0.085 . According to Okasha and Forsyth `Part of the stone is in the basement store of the British Museum, reg. No. 86/5-10.1; the additional parts, recorded in the nineteenth century, are now lost' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 197)
There was no carving or other decoration on this slab which had the following inscription [--]O[--]:E:A OROIT AR MAENACH UA MAELLUGDACH, that when translated reads 'A prayer for Máenach úa Máel-Lugdach. According to Petrie, 'The name Maenach was borne by an Abbot of Roscrea, whose death is recorded: `A.D. 862. Maenach, son of Conmhach, Abbot of Roscrea, died'. Whether this son of Conmhach could have been identical with the descendant of Mael-lugdach may be questioned' (Petrie 1878, 36)

References
Macalister, R. 1949 102 minor reference
Okasha & Forsyth 2001 197--201 photo,drawing substantial discussion
Petrie, G. 1878, 36, Plate XXIII, Fig. 49 drawing concise discussion

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008